“Change is the Law of Life,” President John F. Kennedy once said. It has also been the story of the Roberts Court. Before John Roberts Jr. began his duties as chief justice in 2005, the composition of the U.S. Supreme Court had been the same for more than a decade. But since then, it will have seen six new justices, assuming Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed. (At press time in mid-September, the Senate Judiciary Committee had set a vote for Sept. 20, with consideration by the full Senate anticipated by late last month.)

In the first part of our cover story, Marcia Coyle writes about the winds of change blowing at the high court and weighs in on what the story of the fall term might be. In the second part of our cover, Coyle and Tony Mauro spotlight some of the key decisions that court observers should keep an eye on, from Apple v. Pepper and Frank v. Gaos to Helsinn Healthcare v. Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Next, Ryan Lovelace reports on how the U.S. Department of Justice's aggressive enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act is spurring new law firm practice groups and causing sleepless nights for both lawyers and lobbyists.

Speaking of the high court, in “1 on 1: Conversations with Newsmakers,” Mauro chats with Kate Shaw, a professor at Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, about the high court's future. Shaw, an ABC News contributor, is a former law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens and Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner and an alumna of the Obama White House counsel's office.

Next, in an opinion column, Stephen C. Yeazell, a David G. Price and Dallas P. Price distinguished professor of law emeritus at a UCLA School of Law, argues that civil litigation is misunderstood, in part because of a lack of “good data about the incidence and outcome of ordinary lawsuits” and media fascination with big cases that are “wild outliers.” Is he right? You be the judge.

In our practice column, partners from Murphy & McGonigle discuss how businesses can avoid U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission enforcement actions. The authors suggest that businesses can start by creating whistleblower reporting hotlines that offer employees a way to anonymously report issues, “while allowing investigators to confidentially follow up with whistleblowers for more detail.” Read more in the column.

As always, we would love to hear from you. Email me at the address below or reach out on Twitter via @lhelemNLJ. Thanks for reading.

- Lisa Helem